The Sorceress' Revolt
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Ko Biji's Story
Part Two: Salt Smugglers
It was a quiet night after the
party.
The salt and iron inspectors went to
their beds with some of the servant girls and fell into a deep sleep. The
purported purpose of their inspection was to collect local taxes for the
imperial court, but they were really using the funds they collected to
live high on the hog with the governor.
In the early Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE),
the structure of the government changed. Before that, there was a
supervisory committee populated by the Prime Minister and court eunuchs to
report on matters of local government. Now there was no oversight for
politicians like the governor and court appointees like the inspectors,
and they abused their freedoms to revel in corruption. This should not
come as a surprise; unsupervised politicians have always caused trouble
throughout history.
At this time, most of the Chinese people
were farmers. When finances were in short supply, the Imperial Court was
known to break its own laws and decrees so that new taxes could be levied.
This placed an even greater burden on already impoverished farmers,
fomenting great unrest.
From time to time, rebellions broke out
in the countryside.
***
Everyone at the governor's estate was
asleep aside from his hired guards. The more the governor engaged in evil
deeds, the more protection he hired, as if he believed that more guards
would save him from divine justice. There was a bonfire in front of the
estate gates, still burning even though the party was over.
Several shadows crept along the outer
wall of the estate, avoiding the light. One carried a spear. This figure
leapt suddenly into the light of the bonfire and knocked a hired guard
into the dirt.
The other guards reacted immediately.
"Outlaws! Rouse the house!"
The other shadowed figures rushed the
guards, moving to defend their comrade.
"They're attacking in the night!" one
guard called out.
The guards on the outer wall had no
warning and were swiftly dispatched. The shadowy figures made their way
through the gates onto the estate grounds. These figures were variously
armed and armored; some were obviously farmers and some had scrounged up
soldiers' armor and weapons. The weapons they bore included swords,
spears, bows, axes, and whips. Their ages were as variable as their
equipage: some were hardly older than boys while others were bowed with
age.
The attackers were salt
smugglers.
As if on cue, a group of cavalrymen
galloped in from the left and right and rushed through the gate. The
leader of the cavalrymen, a bearded man of about thirty, raised his body
from his horse and yelled, "Cut down all those who resist!"
There was pandemonium inside the estate.
Hired guards and soldiers engaged the attackers with their swords, but
they were no match for mounted forces. The salt smugglers rode over and
past them like they weren't even there.
The peaceful courtyard transformed into a
battlefield. The mounted salt smugglers used their horses to scatter the
house guards and hired soldiers, stabbing and slashing at them as they
ran.
The salt smugglers' initial charge was
lucky: they encountered sleepy guards and stuffed-full private soldiers
without much battlefield experience. Those men were defeated
near-instantly.
Behind them, though, were the guards that
had the benefit of warning. They poured out of the palatial mansion like
an army of swarming ants. These men were the governor's bodyguards: his
elite force. All of them were battle-hardened veterans.
Shouts and screams as the bodyguards
engaged the salt smugglers. Swords clashed; sparks flew.
"What's going on?" an inspector said,
running out into the hallway.
The governor approached the inspector.
"It's salt smugglers. We're under attack."
The inspector went into a blind panic.
"Salt smugglers! Please protect us!"
The governor nodded. "I'll dispatch your
escort force as well. We'll repel this attack."
All inspectors from the capital traveled
with their own bodyguards. The governor sent a messenger by horse to the
military barracks. Servant girls ousted from guest rooms by mustered
guards and soldiers ran through the hallways, some of them naked.
Amid all this commotion, Tanshi woke up.
He poked his head into the hall to ask about what was happening.
By good luck, the governor was passing by
Tanshi's guest room just as he awakened.
"What's wrong?" Tanshi asked. "Did
something happen?"
"Salt smugglers attacked us before dawn,"
the governor said.
"Salt smugglers?"
"You should show off your skills," the
governor said. "Let's find out how much I'll have to pay you, shall
we?"
But Tanshi had no desire to kill anyone,
salt smuggler or otherwise. "I am a monk. Killing people violates
religious precepts."
"You've already killed someone," the
governor said.
"And that is why I should not sin
further," Tanshi said.
The governor glared. "You owe me for the
meal and a night's lodging," he said. Then he was called away by a
messenger and left.
Tanshi watched the governor walk away.
The man was already treating him like a bodyguard.
Tanshi had heard rumors about salt
smugglers before. Apparently, they sold black salt cheaply to everyone,
but they also attacked people in their homes and murdered them. Sometimes
common thieves disguised themselves as salt smugglers to benefit from the
intimidation factor.
If the salt smugglers get in here, my life might be in danger,
Tanshi thought grimly. That being the case, he couldn't just lay down and
die.
"No running away now," Tanshi muttered to
himself.
Tanshi picked up his pewter staff and
went outside.
Note
闇塩 Black salt is a Himalayan rock salt that has a high sulfur content, which gives it a distinct flavor and smell.
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